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Review Summary

The Zanskar region of Tibet is geographically remote, caught in a cycle of poverty and under siege from the Chinese who surround them and show little respect to their Buddhist traditions. In such a place, educating children is no easy task, and illiteracy is an epidemic in Zanskar. For many families, enrolling their children in school means making the difficult choice of letting them leave home, with many students making the challenging journey to Manali, 180 miles to the South, where they are free to attend schools that offer instructions in the traditional Tibetan language, culture and faith. Filmmaker Frederick Marx follows two Tibetan monks as they ferry a handful of children, ages 4 through 12, to Manali in the documentary Journey From Zanskar, which focuses on the difficult voyage (the travelers must cover a significant part of the distance on foot, while horses and busses handle the rest), the issues of education and culture in Tibet, and the natural beauty of the land many of the children are leaving behind forever. Journey From Zanskar was an official selection at the 2010 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi